Ship operated by Israeli billionaire’s company attacked off Oman

United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said incident northeast of the Omani island of Masirah did not involve piracy.

A company run by an Israeli businessman has said one of the vessels it manages has been targeted in a “suspected piracy incident” after British officials said they were investigating reports of an attack off the coast of Oman. London-based Zodiac Management, part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group, issued a statement on Friday saying the ship was the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Mercer Street and was Japanese owned. “At the time of the incident the vessel was in the northern Indian Ocean, travelling from Dar es Salaam to Fujairah with no cargo onboard,” it said in a Twitter post.